Flight JT 610 was on a scheduled flight to Pangkal Pinang, the main town in the Bangka Belitung Islands. It lost contact with ground control a few minutes after take-off, and was last tracked crossing the sea – it is unclear if there are any survivors.

At a news conference, officials said the plane had been carrying 178 adults, one infant, and two babies, as well as two pilots and five cabin crew.

The plane was a Boeing 737 MAX 8, a brand new type of aircraft. Flight JT 610 took off from Jakarta at 06:20 local time on Monday morning (23:30 GMT on Sunday).

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said there were 20 ministry officials on board, who were returning to their posts in Pangkal Pinang after spending the weekend with their families in Jakarta for a public holiday.

Debris, life vests and a cellphone have been discovered in the water two nautical miles from the coordinates given as the crash site, SAR officials said. The fuselage has not yet been located

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Boats, a helicopter and 250 rescuers, including divers, were working at the crash site, some 34 nautical miles off the coast near Jakarta in the Java Sea. The frogmen are searching in water up to 35 meters (114 feet) deep.

Cabin crew member Alfiani Hidayatul Solikah was included in the passenger manifest of the JT 610 Lion Air plane which crashed Monday morning.